Buckle



Sept 24, 1963 F. ToLAzA 3,104,436

BUCKLE Filed June 26. 1961 F IGJ 2 f# 2 ,Il

/-/e\\` l /f /0/ United States Patent O 3,104,436 BUCKLE Frank Ostolaza, Ladue, Mo., assigner to international Hat Company, St. Louis, M0., a corporation of Missouri Filed June 26, 1961, Ser. No. 119,673 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-198) The present invention relates to a buckle tor garments, and more particularly to .a buckle used to connect the free ends of straps such as hat bands, belts or the like.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a buckle by means of which .the length of a hat band can be adiusted and which will retain its adjusted length.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a buckle which does no-t twist causing Ithe strap to bunch up when the strap is tightened, regardless of the direction of force applied to 4the strap. Still another object of the present invention -is to provide a belt buckle which will release the belt when one lip of the buckle is raised.

Another object is to provide 1a buckle having a circular center opening and trans-verse slots through which a woven webbing or tape is laced so that the webbing is tirmly held and will not slip when either end of the tape is pulled, regardless of the thickness of the webbing.

These and other `objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.

The present invention comprises a buckle having an arcuate ycenter opening bounded by transverse slots with the buckle being transversely bent in the vicinity of the slots to more firmly retain the rfree ends of a band of material therein, thereby adjustably linking the tree ends of the band together.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals vrefer to like parts -wherever they occur:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the buckle linking the free ends of a strip of material;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FiG. l;

lFIG. 3 is a sectional view similar lto FIG. 2 but showing one lip of Ithe buckle raised to free `the strips of material;

FIG. 4 is `an enlarged sectional lview taken along line 4 4 of FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the present invention;

-F1G. 6 is a top plan view of the present invention; `and FIG. 7 is an end elevational view of the present invention.

FG. 1 shows `a buckle 10 engaged with `and linking together the free ends 11 and 11a of a strip of material 12. The material 12 can be a strip ot textile, leather or other material. The buckle is formed with a rectangular body 13 having curved end margins 14. A circular opening 15 is provided in the center of the buckle body 13 and transverse slots 16 having outer transverse sides 16a and inner transverse sides 16b are provided in the body 13 between the opening 15 and the end margins 14. Internal ribs 17 space the slots -16 from the center opening 15, while transverse bars 18 space the slots 16 tro-m the lin margins 14 of the body 13. Longitudinal bars 19 denne Ithe side margins of the buckle 10 and connect the ends of the ribs 17 and the end bars 13 to enclose the opening 15 and the slots 16.

The longitudinal side bars 19 are bent in a `convex shape, while the intermediate ribs 17 and :the transverse bars 18 .are bent in a concave shape so that the transverse slot edges 16a `and 16b :are displaced downwardly in a vertical direction trom the arcuate opening -15 and ythe buckle lip margin 14, respectively.

3,104,436 Patented Sept. 24, 1963 Vice The buckle body 13 can be made of metal or plastic or any similar suitable material.

In fuse, the tree ends 11 Iand 11a of the band 12 are inserted throu-gh the center opening 15 of the buckle 10 from below. The ribbon ends 11 and 11a are passed over the intermediate bars 17 and are returned through the slots 16 ,from above. The ends 11 and 11a are then aligned with the remainder of the belt 12 and pulled tightly about the object enclosed by the belt 112 until there is a slight tension in the belt 12.` The ends 11 and 11a then can be released and `the Itension in the belt 12 4will lock the belt 12 and the buckle 10 in a fixed position. To release the buckle 10, one lip 14 thereof is raised and the belt 12 is freed from the buckle 10. The locking action will be explained more fully hereinafter. The size of the slots 16 is determined by the thickness of the band 12 and the material 12 should -iit snugly in the slots 16.

The round center opening 15' of .the buckle 10 in combination with the straight transverse slots 16 causes the buckle 10 to be centered and axially aligned with the band 12, even when the band 12 is tightened by a torce which is not directed along the longitudinal axis of the buckle 16. In other words, even if an end of the belt 12 is pulled with a force which is not axially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the buckle 10, the bel-t 12 will lnot bunch in one corner of the center opening 15, but will be 4aligned ywith the longitudinal .axis of the buckle 10, since the pulling force is even all around the opening 15 and is not directed toward one cor-ner as is lthe case with rectangular center openings in conventional buckles.

This is an important advantage, since the bands 12 often are hastily positioned with the free ends 11 and 11a not being pulled straight and aligned with the buckle 10 and the main portion of the belt 12. If the buckle 11i does not align itself with the mai-n portion of the band 12, the normal locking action ot the buck-le 10` is not efyfective to link .the `free ends 11 and 11a of the band 12, and the band 12 may come loose.

As hereinbefore mentioned, in linking the Ifree ends 11 and 11a of the strap 12, each of the ends 11 and 11a is threaded from below through the buckle center opening 15; is passed over the intermediate rib 17; is threaded through the transverse slot 16 between the transverse slot edges 16 and 16a; and then is aligned with and on top of the remainder of the strap 12. The strap ends 11 `and 11a are pulled until there is a tension in the main portion of Ithe strap 12. When lthe ends 11 `and 11a are released, there is a force in the strap 12 pulling along the length of the strap 12 in a direction away from the buckle 10. The main or body portion of the strap 12 is engaged with the center opening 15 and bears 'against the under side of the strap ends 11 .and 11a ata point aligned with the slot edges 16a thereby urging the ends 11 a-nd 11a into engagement with the slot edges 16a most removed from the center opening 15 to lock the strap ends 11 and 11a in the buckle 10. Since the slot edges 16a are displaced from the plane of the buckle 10, the tension in the strap 1-2 causing the strap 12 to bear against the ends 11 and 11a tends to lock said ends 11 and 11a against said edges 16a in a fixed position in the buckle 10.

To release the strap 12, one lip 14 of the buckle 10i is ra-ised (FIG. 3), thereby releasing the locking torce exerted on one of the strap ends 11 or 11a by moving the slot edge 16a away lfrom the immediate Vicinity strap 12.

Thus it is seen that the present invention provides a buckle having ya circular center opening and transverse straight slots spaced therefrom, with the edge of the slots being displaced trom lthe plane of the buckle, said buckle being self-aligning and self-locking 'with a minimum o eort and cia-re on the part of the user.

The completely open center opening of the present buckle provides ease in applying the buckle to a strap and also provides for ease in adjusting the length of the strap. Another advantage of the present buckle is that different thicknesses of webbedrbelting can be used with the same buckle rather than making ,a separate buckle for each thickness of webbing, and thus a considerable saving in time 'and cost are effected.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention pro-vides a buckle which achieves the yobjects `and advantages sought therefor.

This invention is intended to cover all changes and modifications of .the examples of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A buckle comprising .a body portion provided with a circular .open center area and a pair of smooth-edged buckle, said body portion including a pair of convex lonl gitudi-nal side bars, a pair of transverse end bars connecting the side bars at each extremity thereof, the innermost edges of said end bars being concave and displaced c below the side bars land the outermost edges tof the end bars, said innermost edges defining a first transverse edge of the transverse slots, and transverse intermediate bars f connecting the side bars, the outermost edges of the intermediate bars being concave land displaced downwardly from the plane of the buckle a lesser Iamount .than said t References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 52,597 Pinus Feb. 13,` 1866. 244,776 Wales July 26, 1881 260,893 Pat-ke Jury 11, rss2 979,947 Hayden et al g- Dec. 27, 19210 1,807,212 .Holmes May 26, 1931 FoRBrGN PATENTS 796,522 France Jan. 22,1936 

